The War Is Never Over (Post-Mockingjay)
by ShootingStar96
Summary: At the end of Mockingjay, you found out what happened to Katniss and Peeta; but what about Gale. We know he got a fancy job in Two, but everything else is left to the reader. So I made a "What happened to Gale" story in his POV. What is he thinking? Who will he meet? What is going to happen to him?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, I wrote this a LONG time ago and just found it recently! Right now it is a one shot, but it has HUGE potential to be a full blown story. Let me know what you all think. Should I continue it? Let me know what you think.**

**I do not own **The Hunger Games**, just my ideas!**

**Chapter 1:**

Gale's POV

I stand in my new office, staring out the window that shows a clear view of The Nut. It is still in pretty bad shape, considering we bombed it heavily during the war. The community around it are still trying to recover anything worth saving around it; it is a mess. But these are the cost of war.

My office is new, but it doesn't look like it. There are empty containers of food and random junk everywhere. There is a stack of clothes off in the corner accompanied with a few toiletry items, enough to suffice living. Along with this nice job, and an office, and access to everything, and pretty much anything I want, I have a nice home that they gave to me. I hardly go there and I don't care for it. It's unfriendly and uninviting. And it is empty; large and horribly empty. Too much room for thinking, and I don't want free time to think. All I want is work.

I fill every second of my time with working, to avoid the alternative. I just feel like it is the only way to spend my time effectively. It is all I can do to keep me from unraveling into a horrible fit. Every once in a while I catch myself thinking about her, and those last moments we spent together. And all the other moments, especially in the woods. Oh, the woods; what I would give to go back, but I can't. Every ounce of me wants to run to her and make everything better, but it is out of my control! I had one thing going for me then, nothing... I just... It is so frustrating, how could this happen...

That's when I notice the lamp on the floor, and the stack of papers that were once perfected stacked moments ago, scattered all over the floor. I did it again. I let my mind drift away from my work and lost control. I pick up the papers and lay them on my desk. I leave the lamp, the janitor is used to this kind of thing, but I still sweep it in a pile for him later. I sit down and get back to my computer.

My job isn't horrible, it is actually really good. Really good. I have Plutarch to thank for that. After the war ended and some of the dust rested, there were jobs that needed to be filled. Plutarch recommended me to Paylor, after my stellar accomplishments during the war, and she offered me the job of Secretary of Defense, located in 2. It was the only thing I could do, I couldn't go back to 12, that would not have been fair to her. I oversee the defense of the country, down to the different districts. Right now our biggest issue is the computer systems. Because of the war, pretty much everything is torn to pieces and everything we used to have is unusable. These systems are what we use to function pretty much every piece of technology in this place. Plutarch says he has some people coming to help fix it, some super nerds. But they will not all arrive for a few more days.

Days?! What am I going to do for a few days, they are beginning to make me go home at night instead of staying overnight at the office. Because we just finished a war, there are not am major conflicts, just a few minor things that I don't even need to get involved in. I have to do something, or I will go crazy. And catching up on sleep is obviously out. I can never truly sleep soundly anymore, not for the past few years, actually.

I find myself looking up different security jobs that need temporarily filled. Anything, even if it is stupid and pointless, I need something! Then I find it. It is in the hospital, they are low on night security. Perfect. And with that I close my computer and walk out. I can't go to that house, so I run to the forest. It is different from 12's. The most obvious difference is the trees, they have something different about them in the way they travel to the sky. But to my eye, the one that has lived in the forest, there is something different in the air, the way it blows and the way the world reacts under me. Somehow I find myself a soft spot of earth and lay there looking at the sky and all I can wonder is if the moon was always that far away.

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**A/N: Again, please let me know what you guys think about this. I really enjoyed writing it and I like Gale, so don't hate on him! Please review; if enough people want more, I will most defiantly turn this into a story! (It is on track to be a story.) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Gale's POV

I run when I hear the scream. I recognize it. Not the actual person that it escaped from, but the type of scream it was. A nightmare. That's what caused that blood curdling scream. I am pretty familiar with it myself. I have come face to face with nightmares, but I am usually the one who wakes up from hearing the scream instead of being the actual screamer. The noise comes from a room with a young women in it.

She looks like a mess. Her light brown hair is tied into a tight bun on her head, and she is thrashing around her bed like a maniac. Most likely trying to shake away the nightmare that is consuming her. I see the MENTALLY UNSTABLE tag wrapped around her incredibly pale wrist. They are hard to miss. I try to calm her down, but she is trapped in sleep. I see the empty cup that probably contained pills, sleeping pills. It looks like all she can do is sleep it off.

But the pain in her face is almost too much to bare. I recognize that pain too much. I just saw it a few weeks ago. Before I can process what I'm doing, I am dumping water on her, trying to wake her up. She shoots up, and even though I dumped a little water on her, nothing can mask the sweat beading on her forehead and the tears down her cheeks; her eyes show a mix of confusion and fear. It is a weird look, like she is scared out of her mind, yet she does not recognize what it is or why it is so scary.

She presses the nurse's button, and in moments, a nurse materializes in the door. _Where was she moments ago when the girl was screaming? _I put the thought out of my head and walk away telling the nurse that I merely woke her up from her nightmare. The nurse did not look too pleased, but hey, I did the best with what I could work with.

* * *

Today is supposed to be the first day with the new techies, but I will have to be late because Omni, leader of 2, needed to see me. He is an old gamemaker who was on the rebels side during the war. He and I have an understanding of each other, to say the least. We just know how to do our jobs without getting into each other's hair too much. I know what he is going to tell me before I even step into his office. These next few weeks, or maybe months, are going to be important to the district. His office is not too far away from mine, just down the hallway.

Part of me finds this too close to bare. It is not like he is a bad leader, he does a good job considering the hand he has been dealt. Maybe it is the fact that he lived in the capitol. He praised the Hunger Games. He controlled the Hunger Games. Even though he was on our side, he held the fate of dozens of children in his hands and just let them die. I try to push these thoughts out of my head, it would not be good to walk into his office upset and do something irrational. I do not need him having any excuse for forcing me to see that therapist.

That's the other thing, the therapy. I am supposed to be going to it, something about PTSD from the war. But I do not need to go to any therapist for anything. It is ridiculous. They say if I have another angry outburst it will become mandatory, but right now it is just strongly advised. I don't need to tell some cooped up doctor about how I feel, there would not be enough time to talk about everything in my life anyway. And my past and my thoughts are mine and no one needs to know about them or tell me how to deal with them.

"Took you long enough." he says as I walk into his office.

"I got caught up with something" I respond, "What did you need to talk to me about?" I know what.

"You know these people are going to fix our little problem with our computers, but that is not all they are doing."

I say the words I am thinking. "What? What else are they doing? Why does it concern our district? Most of them are from 3."

"Doesn't matter. This district is in charge of military and security, so it is our issue. We discovered these... boxes hidden away in Snow's mansion a little while ago and we need them opened. We have no idea what could be in these boxes and they could hold important information. You'll learn more when you meet with the techies, they know more about it than I do."

"Okay" is all I get out, I am too focused on what could be in those boxes. I searched that mansion myself and never saw any kind of box thing. If they were that well hidden they must be important. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"No. Did you look over the list of techies who you will be working with?" I nod even though I just brushed over them. They are kind of all the same, and I find no point. I would much rather form my own observations and opinions on them by my own eye, not what's on a piece of paper.

"Well, then you should know that some of them have difficulty staying... focused, and it is your responsibility as supervisor to make sure they work productively. A lot of our district's reconstruction depends on these people."

"Don't worry, I will make sure everything is fine."

"Undoubtibley, just know that you are to make sure that everyone is working to their fullest."

And with that I walk out of the room and down to the space where I will be spending my time for the next few months.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! I have got a good idea of what will happen in the near future, but I will be searching for ideas soon. And I promise the chapters will slowly start getting longer!(Sorry if they feel short) **

**I have been doing polls lately, and I was wondering if I should do a poll for this story too. I love hearing everyone's thoughts... So please review or PM. I love both!**


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own anything, just my ideas!

**Chapter 3:**

Gale's POV

Boxes are an understatement; it is more of a box wall. How could this have been hidden away so well. It is a huge wall with dozens of squares engraved in it. Some are bigger than others, but they all fit like some jigsaw puzzle. It is really fascinating and I have to restrain myself from trying to decipher each code myself and try to open them. As I walk closer, the wall seems to grow bigger and bigger. The computer will take a few days, two weeks max to fix, but this 'Box Project' will probably take months. I am almost to the group when I realize they have already started working. One of them notices me, and I recognize him as Rill, the man who is leading this group, under me of course. He is a short, older man with glasses and dark hair with a touch of gray. His eyes are light and full of knowledge and understanding, at least he doesn't look like he will be an issue.

"Ah, you must be-"

"Hawthorne" I cut him off. No need to get personal with my first name, there is no need. This is just work, why get so personal. Besides, he doesn't see the problem with it. He turns to the group working and introduces me to them. They all look the same, small weak structures, a few gray hairs popping from the older workers, over half of them sport glasses, and I see a few MENTALLY UNSTABLE bracelets. One of the persons with the bracelet on I recognize, not from her file, which was almost empty, but from the hospital.

She was the one who was screaming that one night in the hospital. Her name... It was, um... Calla; yeah, that's it. I can see her more clearly now. She is medium hight, but very, very small around her; who isn't though with the way people were underfed before the war. Her hair is too dark to call blonde, but too light to call brown. Hazelnut, that is a good name for it. Her hazel eyes look lost, in a trance. Now I see that she has a small twitch, like electric shocks are pulsing through her. I feel, I know this one will need to be babysat through this.

No one stops working, so I find myself a seat and look at what work they've done already. I do not sit for long because I need to be doing something, contributing to the project. I can't help but feel marveled by the workmanship put into this wall. As much as I hate to admit it, it is some damn good work. I can't even imagine what secrets this thing holds; after hearing all Finnick had to say, nothing is off limits.

Hours go by and not much gets accomplished associated with the boxes, but they manage to get a sufficient amount of work done with the computers. What surprises me the most is that Calla was leading the group. She is probably the most quiet and she looks like she has the most issues among the group, but she is also the smartest of them all. While everyone else took a break for lunch, she stayed and it was just her and the white board. When we all came back, she had filled almost every inch with some kind of math equation. Some of it is better than the stuff Beetee could come up with.

Part of me wants to know what is up with her, what makes her tick. I guess it is just part of me to want to figure things out, solve the puzzles that seem impossible to solve. But it is none of my business, and I have sworn away from getting close to others. I do not want to hurt anyone ever again, even if it is not on purpose. Just the risk of anything bad happening... I just... can't take having that risk hanging over me. I have enough troubles crushing me down to a point where I am having a hard time standing. I do not know when I will be able to walk normal again.

Omni wants me to see him. Again. I do not know why he can not call, or send a note, or just leave me alone. Everything is better when I am alone without others; not as many people get hurt that way. I walk into his office and he is sitting at his desk, on the phone.

"Yes, so she will move out of the hospital today? Great, I will be back right after I have a talk with Mr. Hawthorne... Yes, I will be informing him; he's in charge after all... Alright, I will see you in a few."

He hangs up and looks up at me. I tell him, "I hope this does not become a regular thing, you needing to see me everyday."

"No, I just wanted to inform you on one of the box workers."

"Okay? Who?"

"Calla. There was not much in her file, so you probably don't know much about her. And I'm guessing neither of you two have had a personal in-depth conversation."

"No, we haven't; what do I need to know about her?"

"Well, for one thing, she has memory issues. Different parts of her life, well, she doesn't remember them. Doctors think that she has suffered from more than one concussion over the past few years, but they do think she had a pretty severe one recently. She was found in the Gamecenter when the war ended. Let's just say she has some issues, but she doesn't know what half of them are."

"And she is working on such a high profile project because..."

"Because, while she may have severe memory issues, she is a genius and when she is doing a math equation or deciphering a computer program, it's like all her problems flush away. She focuses all her energy into her work, and her issues are nonexistent." I guess I know what that is like.

"Anyway," he continues, "because she has her memory issues, she doesn't know how old she is, when her birthday is, or anything like that. She doesn't deserve to stay in the hospital for forever, so I've volunteered to be her legal guardian. There is small apartment attached to my own, so she is moving in next to me."

What? Why would he care, why is he doing this? "Okay, what's in it for you? Why would you volunteer to do this?"

"Because, you may not know this, but I lost someone important to me during the war while I was in the Capitol. This person was across the country while I was home, safe. She was in the Capitol, and I feel an obligation to help. And even though I helped during the war, I was still a part of the Games. I know it doesn't event the score, but I am trying."

"Okay," I tell him, slowly swallowing in all the information that is making me feel a million different emotions, "anything else?"

"Yes, you know she has issues, and I told you to make sure the workers stay working. Just, keep an eye out for her; she is a little bit more unstable than the others. Watch out for anything unexpected."

He doesn't have to tell me to be on my toes, I haven't been able to work with a calm, unparanoid mind in too long.

**A/N: New character! And I know you were given a lot of information, but not that much too. You will slowly get more information about her (because of the whole memory thing). I also have some really good stuff planned for the chapters to come, so I will try and get it up as soon as I can. And I am open to any ideas anyone has. I love Reviews and PMs, so do not hesitate! **


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